Youth travellers interested in responsible, ethical travel

How will ethical tourism stand out in the youth travel industry in 2016? We caught up with Richard Nimm, Managing Director at Blue Ventures – winner of the Outstanding Volunteer Project award at the 2015 Global Youth Travel Award – to find out.

What will constitute an excellent work-travel experience in 2016?
We believe that young travellers are interested in worthwhile and responsible travel and the ethics of tourism will become more visible in 2016 as travellers ask more questions about the impact of their trips and as they demand more benefits to receiving countries.

Will young work-experience and/or volunteer travellers face any special challenges or opportunities in 2016? How will your organisation help them?
Security risks and threats are likely to be an issue in 2016. We will support our travellers with accurate and appropriate information as well as by maintaining good procedure and policies to assess and respond to risks.

Are there certain types of travel experiences that you expect to become very popular in the coming year or ones that will decline in popularity (groups, destinations, modes of travel, activities, etc)?
There will certainly be a decline in travel to unstable regions but I think that tourism will adapt and that, apart from a response to security little else will change.

Is youth travel getting older? In other words, are older people travelling in youth-inspired ways? Can you offer a personal story or example?
Yes, age profiles are changing and older people (career breakers as well as retirees) are now engaged in long stay travel, adventure travel and conservation tourism.

What will change next year in terms of environmental initiatives/actions in the travel industry? How will consumers be affected or involved?
I don’t foresee any changes but hope the industry will continue to be very aware of environmental issues despite the likely economic challenges that security issues will cause. I also hope that tourism will focus more on benefits to receiving countries and host communities.

Lastly, how do you plan to promote your 2015 Global Youth Travel Award throughout the coming year?
We have the award listed on our awards page and have promoted it through social media (Facebook and Twitter) as well as through our newsletters to our database.